Printed circuit boards and the semiconductor chips attached to them are each vastly complex structures. A printed circuit board (PCB) can have numerous chips attached to it. Each chip can, in turn, have a different function but the operations of the chips interact with one another to provide an overall operation for the printed circuit board. Similar types of interactions are possible with multi-chip modules and stacked chip packages. In each of these cases one package level, such as a printed circuit board, has interconnections for a second package level, such as a semiconductor chip. When a printed circuit board, or some chip mounted on it, fails to operate correctly, identification of the defect can be very problematic. A single chip may have hundreds of millions of transistors or more on it. A printed circuit board may have thousands of wires or more on it.
There remains a need for improved failure analysis evaluation of printed circuit boards having mounted semiconductor chips.